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Exiting the tub, I wipe myself dry before wearing the provided negligee. The one I was wearing when I woke up, that mysterious negligee. What exactly is this? I have a hunch that it’s something that the creator god made, maybe I was just given this negligee simply as a bonus.

It’s also possible that Fiiynamia noticed my incarnation and had put it on me. Whatever the case may be, it shows off my shoulders, so I really want a stole.

After putting the negligee on, I called Ciel. She was also done dressing up and approached me, seemingly puzzled.

「Ain, what’s the matter?」
「I was thinking of drying your hair. Could you sit down?」
「Sure, understood.」

I pulled the chair that was in the corner to the center of the changing room and had Ciel sit down. Her damp white hair likely wouldn’t particularly get damaged even if left out to dry. I can even just dry it out immediately if I had to, but this time, I use sorcery to dry her hair the way a hair dryer would. While combing through Ciel’s hair with my fingers, I also lightly massage her scalp.

Ciel is sitting still with her eyes closed, so doing this is extremely easy. Right now, it somewhat feels to me like we’re actual sisters. Though, it’s not like I would know how sisters act with each other.

Anyhow, it seems like Ciel is quite pleased based on her laxed lips, so I’m quite satisfied.

As I finished drying her, 「Finished.」 I pulled my hand away and Ciel opened her eyes, looking at me with a seemingly sad expression.

「Done already? Too bad.」
「I can’t keep on drying it forever, after all.」
「Yeah. Thank you, Ain. It felt really good.」
「I’m glad to hear that.」

Saying so, I presented my hand before Ciel. Taking my hand, she stood up, and we left to eat dinner.

◇

Dinner was really delicious as well. I was thinking of something to talk with Fiiyanamia about but knowing that there’s only a few remaining hours left, she quickly escorted us to the bedroom. I can’t keep count on how many times I’ve felt grateful to Fiiyanamia today. It would be nice if I can return the favor sometime in the future.

Right now, however, I need to focus on my time with Ciel.

「The day’s going to end soon, isn’t it…」
「We still have a little time, so we can do what you want to do, you know?」
「Let me think… I wonder how Ain’s body is right now.」

Saying so, Ciel touches my upper arm. She curiously, but gently, pinches it repeatedly, it’s quite amusing.

「I suppose it’s like divine power is coating my soul. Because of that, this body doesn’t seem to need any actual food sustenance.」
「Divine power… does that mean if I become a god, I’ll be able to make Ain’s body?」
「I believe so, but I can’t say for sure.」
「I see, so that’s how it is.」

Ciel holds my hand and starts contemplating while repeatedly squeezing. My other hand feels somewhat lonely, so I decided to gently brush Ciel’s cheek. Somehow, I already feel really happy just from touching Ciel’s soft and smooth skin, but then Ciel held my hand with her other free one. And as she smiled with great delight, I was overwhelmed with emotion.

「You know, Ain, I’ve been always thinking to myself, is there a way to make Ain a body? And so, just seeing a possibility for us to be together like this, really makes me so happy, I feel like my heart is about to burst. It’s true, you know?」

Saying that, Ciel sat me on the bed and embraced my head. Beyond the soft sensation, I hear Ciel’s heart beating really fast.

I never had anything more than cloudy fantasies of me being able to physically touch Ciel one day. Rather, I probably decided unconsciously that I should disappear before even considering the matter of having a body. That might have been why I wasn’t able to properly imagine how overjoyed Ciel would be.

I’m sure that Ciel has always wanted to touch me long before the chance to have a wish granted by the Supreme God arose. This desire has likely been present for a longer time than my own desire to be touched. As a result, Ciel’s emotional attachment to this wish should be greater than mine, in proportion to the difference in our desire for physical contact.

However, now I know. The joy that comes with physical interaction with Ciel. This happiness, which might have seemed insignificant before, represents a normal state that I was never able to experience in the past. That’s why, now I want to have my own body too.

I’m fine even if I can’t have it everyday, but just one day is painful.

「It will take 10 years at most for our deification to stop us from aging. From there, it will likely take even more time for us to completely become gods.」
「That’s right, you said that before.」
「However, there is a way to hasten this.」
「Right, I somewhat realized that too. After all, the way Ain spoke hinted at it. Now, how can we make it happen?」
「By using a lot of divine power. Basically, just mixing some into the barrier should speed it up.」

Right now, it’s still impossible for me to use it constantly but once some of my magic power gets converted into divine power, I should be able to do it. And while I don’t know how much we can hasten it, it should at least speed up by a few years.

「Then will this be all on you, Ain?」
「Ciel still can’t manipulate divine energy after all. I’m not sure when you’ll start being able to use it but I’m basically the one influencing the transformation, so this’ll likely be mostly on me either way.」
「If possible, I really want to help out too…」

Ciel began contemplating about this, but there’s something I absolutely need to convey to her.

「I also want to have physical contact with you, Ciel. However, if we rush too much, you’ll stop aging before you finish your growth. So please keep this in mind.」

Ciel is going to be 13 soon. Considering the maximum years, which is 10, she’ll stop aging at about 22-23 years old. Since the deification accelerates based on the encroachment, there is a possibility that, if we give it our all, we’ll experience the halt of aging within a few years. If we can halve the time, this’ll be around 17-18. It might even be possible for her growth to stop at about 15 years old. Ciel’s plenty charming even now, but she’s far from being an adult woman.

「Ain, do you think that I’m no good as I am right now?」
「No. You’re cute as you are right now. You’ve been cute ever since.」
「In that case, I don’t mind it. I want to do my best to become a god as fast as possible.」

With a slightly flushed face, Ciel asserted so. With that being the case, I’m sure that she thought this through. That’s where I was mistaken yesterday, after all. As I was thinking this, Ciel added so.

「After all, it’s what you want, Ain. I want to hurry and be able to freely interact with Ain too. With that being that case, there’s no reason to hesitate.」

I felt my cheeks breaking into a small smile, but I immediately refocused and replied with a resolute tone.

「I understand. I’ll use divine energy as much as I can.」
「And besides, I don’t know how much a god can do, but the one Ain met could change her appearance freely, right? In that case, wouldn’t we at least be capable of changing our age?」
「Now that you mentioned it, that might be the case.」

Certainly, there is a possibility that it could be as Ciel says but only a possibility. However, being able to physically interact with Ciel is my happiness. And since we’ve decided to be happy on our own term, I’ll take action to gain my own body as soon as I can. That’s what I’ve decided to do. As long as it doesn’t cause Ciel unhappiness, I’ll pursue my own happiness myself.

「If that the case, then it might be good to try and search out “Artificial Divine Messengers”.」
「Right, that is true. After all, Ain was able to become a god after defeating that wolf… right?」
「Roughly speaking, yes.」
「In that case, if we defeat more of those Artificial Divine Messengers, Ain’s deification could speed up by a lot.」
「There should be some merit in trying that. The real issue is whether there are more of these around or not but…」
「So in the meantime, gathering information seems to be the best option. And it’s that man after all, so it’s highly probable that he experimented with more things than just that.」

Nothing will start if we don’t move. We haven’t had any plans ever since we arrived at Central, so it’s good that we found something to do. I don’t have any plans on setting foot on Estoque again, but they might have escaped to other countries. And it’s not like we won’t become gods if we can’t find more of them.

「With that decided, I’ll have Ain as a hug pillow today, I will!」

As our future plans were decided, or perhaps it’s because she got the information she wanted, Ciel had an absolutely satisfied look as she pushed me down.

◇

On the bed, we faced each other with our hands held together. At first, Ciel was eager to have me as her hug pillow but after she actually tried it, she seems to have realized that the human body is not fit to be a hug pillow. It seems like for Ciel, the fact that she couldn’t see my face when she was hugging me scored the hug pillow a negative assessment.

Ever since we settled into this position, we haven’t exchanged any words nor have we done anything in particular. Through the feel of our joined hands and the face we see before us, we simply ascertained each other’s existence. Our gazes intertwined and, as we got captivated by each other’s eyes, the two of us giggled.

Just from this, for some reason, I felt awfully fulfilled.

After who knows how long, Ciel’s eyes gradually started drooping drowsily. The number of her blinks increased and I’m sure that she’ll fall asleep any moment now. Even so, knowing that she’s trying her best to stay awake and be with me for even just a second longer, it warms my heart. How sweet, how adorable.

「Say, Ain?」
「Yes, what is it?」

I heard Ciel’s voice, which had a somewhat sleepy tone.

「Would you sing for me? I want to hear Ain’s songs while feeling your presence right now.」
「Can I sit up? It’s difficult to sing lying down, you see.」
「Will you hold my hand?」
「Of course.」

Saying so, I got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Then, I grabbed Ciel’s left hand with my right and rested my free left hand on her shoulder.

Closing my eyes, I started singing.

All the while recalling this dream-like day. For this day that I was able to physically touch Ciel, I try to make it even just a bit more special for her. I sang the few lullabies I’ve sung many times before, one by one, carefully and extensively.

Gently, affectionately, while making sure that it reaches Ciel’s ears. To lull her to sleep, I rhythmically tap my left hand.

Gradually, Ciel’s hold loosened. And her breath started to follow a consistent cycle.

When Ciel completely fell asleep, I stopped singing. The moonlight shone on her sleeping face.

This familiar face of hers was adorable like that of a fairy’s yet at the same time, had a hidden beauty like that of a goddess. As I rested my palm on her cheek, she smiled happily while asleep. This innocent expression that Ciel normally doesn’t show heals me greatly.

Caressing her snow white hair, I whispered: 「Good night, Cielmer.」

Hiya~! And this ends Ciel’s eventful day with Ain~ Gotta say, adorable arc all around and very therapeutic for Ain too~

One thing I like about this series is that the author knows that it’s the small things that hit really hard. In other words, subtlety. And this synergizes well with the fact they’ve never experienced all of this trivial skinship before. Ever. All the casual touching is treated special, because it is due to Ain’s physiology. Also, Fiiyanamia once again being considerate and giving them alone time together. Nice.

And now on the second half, we get more of our two princesses and one important thing for the progression: where do we go from here? Well, it seems like the two can’t wait to be able to touch each other again (sfw), so it’s artificial divine messenger hunting season for the near future. That opens the possibility of travelling to other places, hopefully the guest reception is better that Estoque’s, lol. Still, Estoque is the most human-centric country, if my memory is serving me right, so I guess it’s time to meet more non-human races~!

I’m really overwhelmed by the last part though, I can’t think any more than this, so I’ll end it here.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!